As many of you have noticed and pointed out to me, no posts later than 2019 show up on the website. I’ll explain.
In 2019, several CHF contributors combined to pay $5000 to have the website updated. The update included functions to allow individuals to make contributions to CHF and for CHF to sell items, such as genealogy and family history books. The organization is non-profit and had recently achieved tax-exempt status. The update was important to generate revenue for ongoing website hosting and maintenance. It was supposed to be a one-time fix, allowing donations and annual paid memberships through Braintree and PayPal. These functions would guarantee support and longevity for the website.
At about the same time, our hosting server was indicating that it would be eliminating some services, including possible hosting of our data, pictures, documents, and posts. Our website design person convinced us it would be safer to allow him to host everything on his server.
Shortly after the website was updated, we began to have problems with Braintree and PayPal, both of which were linked to our meager bank account. There were attempts for unauthorized access to the account. At first it was not uncommon to have an attempt every now and then. Eventually the attacks bordered on harassment as they increased to 10, 20, or more per day. Our website designer could not be found to help with the problem. Finally, we emptied the bank account and cancelled the Braintree and PayPal accounts. We then hired a new IT person to remove the donate and purchase features from the website.
Then, sometime in late 2022 or early 2023, all posts made since the website update in the summer of 2019 disappeared. I don’t know with certainty but suspect that the server used by the original and unscrupulous website designer no longer was hosting the data. Efforts to locate the website designer or the posts were futile. The hosting server said the data belonged to the unscrupulous website designer, not to CHF.
Finally I located pdfs of the posted pages on a website called Wayback. The website archives pdfs of web pages. The text was there on the CHF pages, but most of the images were missing. I had kept all but a few of the images and my computer, so, I began rebuilding the posts. Over the next several weeks I will be re-posting the articles.
Over the years CHF has received numerous emails and messages thanking us for the website. I believe this effort is worthwhile. Thank you for supporting it.
Glen A. Collier